#IDedchat Wondering -What is your color and is it affecting what you see?

“Think of your company as a beach ball. Picture the beach ball as having a red stripe, a green stripe, a yellow stripe, and a blue stripe. Let’s imagine that you are the president of the company. That is you standing on the blue stripe. The blue stripe is where you live, every day, day after day. If someone asks you what color your company is, you look down around your feet and say, ‘My company is blue.” –Susan Scott

This really resonated with me this week – so many times, we can’t understand why our colleagues cannot see the change that is needed. Sometimes we don’t understand why administrators are so focused on a certain issue instead of what we think is important. So many times we can only see the “color” we are living in – we forget that our colleagues may be living on a different color.

There are two things this reminds me of. The first has to do with one of my favorite novels growing up – To Kill a Mockingbird. The second has to do with my favorite Freedom Writer, Manny Scott.

In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus works to explain to his daughter Scout that until you “have walked a mile in another man’s shoes” you cannot truly understand how they think, or what they have experienced.

Manny Scott talks about the importance of “openness” when it comes to “REACH”ing our students – and when it comes to building relationships with colleagues. We have to put ourselves aside and realize that it isn’t about US. Read more about it here:

What we have to remember is when we reach our frustration point – we need to step back and think…am I seeing this only through the lens of my color? What color is the other person living in? How can I approach the situation from their color? How can I help them see my color too?

Challenge: Try out some strategies to build relationships with other colleagues this week. Engage them – really see them with an open heart and mind – learn about their passions – find out what color they live in.